70 PROMOTE FRUITFULNESS. 
from the 1st to the 15th of March, and go on with 
the work through April. I do not remember a 
single instance, nor can I find one in my note-book, 
where the end of a branch or twig was injured by 
cold weather, when the trees were trimmed after the 
first of March; neither have I observed any ill ef- 
fects from pruning pear trees in April, although in 
the latter part of the month, if warm weather sets 
in, the buds swell rapidly, and leaves appear before 
the first of May. It is not best to do much cutting, 
except on very young trees, while the foliage is com- 
ing out. 
When the trees are seven or eight feet high, the 
pruning can be done with greater ease and rapidity 
by the use of a trimming shears; the same as fig. 7. 
The Gardener's Monthly published an essay on 
the “Philosophy of Pruning,” read before the Pa. 
Horticultural Society, by Dr. J. A. Warder. After 
some very excellent general directions about the 
management of trees in the nursery rows, so as to 
give them the best form, the Dr. says: “ The second 
object of pruning being to promote fruitfulness in 
the trees, it should be done chiefly during the sum- 
mer or during the period of growth. At the same 
time or during the growing season, much may be 
done to advantage; both in thinning out and short- 
ening in such parts of the tree as need these plang 
